Blind for carriage and other windows.



W. MOLAREN & L. J. LE CLAIR. BLIND FOR CARRIAGE AND OTHER WINDOWS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 24,- 1911.

Wibzwses.

JKW Wsm coLumBm PLANOGRAPH 00.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

W. McLAREN & L. J. LE CLAIR. BLIND FOR CARRIAGE AND OTHER WINDOWS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 24, 1911.

Patented June 16, 1914.

s SHEETS-SHEET 2. 1192.

Riv

fiwelzianst MM Mg, 95W saw; 5% a W I; PM?

COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPM C01, WASHINGTON, n, c.

W. MOLAREN & L. J. LE CLAIR. BLIND FOR CARRIAGE AND OTHER WINDOWS. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 24, 1911.

1,100,598. Patented June 16,1914.

3 SHEBTSSHBET 3.

:0 fig UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM MQLAREN AND LOUIS JEAN LE CLAIR, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

BLIND FOR CARRIAGE .AND OTHER WINDOWS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 16, 1914.

Application filed August 24, 1911. Serial No. 645,856.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, IVILLIAM a sub ect of MGLAREN,

the King of Great Britain, and

fication.

This invention relates to blinds for car-E riage and other windows of the kind wherein the ends of the stiffening rod move in channel guides in the window frame and are forced by springs into frictional contact with the said guides, the ends of the@ stiffening rod being provided with rollers or slides which are carried by plungers within the rod, actuated by springs which tend toI pull the rollers or slides toward the middle of the rod, the result being that if one end of the stiffening rod be raised or lowered bef yond the other, when raising or lowering the blind, the spring plungers and rollers are extended outward and act against )their; springs which thus always bring the stiffening rod automatically into the normal or horizontal position and prevent jamming. In arrangements of this kind, the springs have heretofore acted by compression and therefore surrounded the plungers which consequently are insufficiently guided and are of a diameter too slight to withstand the rough usage to which the blinds are frequently subjected and by which they are liable to become bent and rendered inoperative unless the stiffening rods are made of an unreasonable size in cross section, in addition to which where steel springs are used, which is usually the case, it has been found in practice that the springs, being subject to corrosion by dampness, the resultant rust in the form of powder has impeded the action of the plungers, by getting in between the same and the plunger guides and thereby rendering the whole device inoperative. According to our invention these objections are overcome by attaching the springs, which act by tension, to the inner ends of the plungers and securing them to the stiffening rods, whereby we are enabled to make the plungers of the internal diameter of the stiffening rods, so that they are stouter or stronger than heretofore and are guided throughout their entire length.

In the accompanying drawing, Figures 1 and 2 are elevations of a blind having a stiffening rod and guides constructed according to our invention. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 38, Fig. 1, with the omission of the stops 7) and drawn to a larger scale. Fig. 1 is an elevation of a part of the lower portion of the shade and its connection with the guide. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section, also drawn to a larger scale than Figs. 1 and 2,

; illustrating a different way of securing the spring. Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are detail views,

. also drawn to a larger scale than Figs. 1

and 2, illustrating different ways of constructing our guides and stiffening rods.

a is the stiffening rod which is made tubular as shown, and Z), Z) are the rollers at the ends thereof; 0, c are the plungers, sliding within the tubular rod and carrying the said rollers Z), Z); (Z, (Z are the springs which tend to pull the rollers Z) toward the middle of the rod a; e, e are the channel guides in j which the rollers 7) run. These guides 6 may be made of any channel section, such for example as those shown in Figs. 4., 6 and 7 which will allow the rollers 12 to freely run up and down without coming out of the guides when the blind 7, Figs. 1 and 2, is operated in which case the rollers are mounted on spindles a in necks on the ends of the plungers, or the guides may consist of rods as shown in Fig. 8 in which case the rollers are mounted in forks 0 at the ends of the plungers. The guides e are generally fixed in grooves made in the window frame g, but the grooves themselves obviously can form the guides provided one or two retaining strips be secured to the face of each groove.

The springs (5 act by tension, each spring being attached to a pin j fixed in the rod a, as shown in Fig. 8, and to the inner end of the plunger 0 and placed in tension when the plunger is drawn outward. As shown in Fig. 5, a single tension spring may be arranged to control both plungers a, the spring being held at a point intermediate its ends by a pin is fixed to the rod a. The construction shown in this figure is quite desirable, as it does away with the necessity of two springs and is simple and inexpensive.

As shown in the drawing, a single short spring may be employed, one end of which is directly connected to one of the plungers, while the spring is connected with the opposite plunger by a suitable rod or wire or their equivalent 70 the ends of which are secured to the spring and plungers respectively.

Z, Figs. 1 and 2 is the spring roller upon which the material f of the blind is wound in the usual manner the lower portion of the said material being of course, secured to the tubular rod a. In order to prevent the rollers b from leaving the channel guides 6 stops n, n Fig. 1 are screwed to the window frame so as to close the tops of the guide; or stops 0, 0 may be fixed at the tops of the guides 6 against which stops projections 77, p on the necks 6 come in contact,

With the described construction if a person carelessly attempts to raise the blind by lifting one end of the stiffening rod a, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the spring plungers 0 will immediately exert a pulling action upon the rollers 29 which will tend to bring the stiffening rod into the horizontal position, that is to say, the opposite end of the rod will follow the upward movement of the end which is lifted.

Our blind stifi ening rod can advantageously be used in combination with pinch handles exerting either an outward or an inward pressure on the guides.

Claims. 7

l. A window blind provided with a tubular stiffening rod, plungers slidably mounted in the outer ends of said rod, a clear open space being provided in said rod between the inner ends of the plungers, tension spring means connected to the inner ends of said plungers and located in said open space, and

rollers on the outer ends of said plungers adapted to engage suitable guides in the window frame.

2. A window blind provided with a tubular stiffening rod, plungers slidably mounted in the outer ends of said rod, a clear open space being provided in said rod between the inner ends of the plungers, tension spring means provided in said open space and securing means for the same, said tension spring means being located between the inner ends of said plungers and said securing means, and being connected to said plungers, and rollers on the outer ends of said plungers adapted to engage suitable guides F in the window frame.

3. A window blind having a tubular stifiening rod plungers within the rod, a traction spring secured to the inner ends of said plungers, and means for securing the spring within the rod at a point intermediate the ends of said spring.

4. A window blind having a tubular stiffening rod, plungers within said rod and a traction spring, one end of which is secured directly to one of the plungers and the other end secured to the other plunger by a non-elastic connection, said spring being secured to the rod at a point intermediate its ends.

WILLIAM MCLAREN. LOUIS JEAN LE CLAIR. lVitnesses H. D. JAMESON, A. ALBUTT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. G. 

